Chart of the Week: More Drought & Fires

One of the predicted symptoms of global warming is an  increased number of droughts and longer droughts in sections of the country.  This chart from the EPA shows that in the period 2000-15 up to 70% of the land area of the US experienced conditions that were at least abnormally dry. During the later half of 2012 more than half of the US land area was affected with moderate to extreme drought conditions.  The southwestern US being the region most affected.

With droughts come more wildfires as undeveloped land becomes more prone to ignition.  The drought year of 2012 was the third worst year on record for wildfires.  The US spent $!.7 billion fight wildfires in 2013 alone; the costs of fire fighting is up over 600% from the costs in 1985.